Oklahoma gearing up to sponsor 35th Annual Horticulture Industries Show

Friday, November 20, 2015

Oklahoma State University, together with the University of Arkansas, will sponsor the 35th Annual Oklahoma and Arkansas Horticulture Industries Show. Both gardening professionals and enthusiasts should mark their calendars for this information-packed two-day event slated Jan. 8-9, 2016. The event will take place at the Tulsa Community College, NE Campus, 3727 E. Apache, in Tulsa. This year’s theme is “Building Soils for a Secure Future.”

For more than three decades, the HIS has consistently provided growers and the public with the latest information on vegetables, fruit, Christmas trees, farmers market crops and public gardening issues. The public and growers from Arkansas, Oklahoma and surrounding states are welcome to attend.

Jeff Moyer, a world-renowned authority in organic agriculture and interim executive director at Rodale Institute in Kutztown, Pennsylvania, will serve as the keynote speaker. His expertise includes organic crop production systems with a focus on weed management, equipment modification and use, cover crops, crop rotations and facilities design. He also is well-known for conceptualizing and popularizing the No Till Roller Crimper for use in organic agriculture.

In addition to the valuable information shared by the keynote speakers, attendees also will have the opportunity to take part in concurrent educational sessions covering topics such as vegetable varieties; farm safety; time management on the farm; health benefits of fruit consumption; using row covers for insect pest and pollinator management in cucurbits; native pollinators; Oklahoma Proven 2016 plant selections; fruit tree nutrition; value-added products; emerging trends in hoop house design, construction and utilization; Christmas tree farm business strategy; potting mixes and much more. These sessions will be taught by both industry professionals and OSU specialists.

Advance registration, due by Dec. 22, is $55 for both days or $42 for one day. A spouse and up to two additional adults from the same farm/business may register for $40 each. Registration after Dec. 22 or on-site registration is $85 per person for both days or $60 for one day. Additional adults from the same farm/business may register for $45 each. Students with college ID may register for free.

The conference program and registration form is available online at http://www.hortla.okstate.edu/research-and-outreach/programs/2015HIS. Mail the form, along with registration payment, to HIS Registration, P.O. Box 1993, Stillwater, OK 74076-1993.

Sponsors include the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service; Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service; Arkansas State Horticultural Society; OSU’s Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture; Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture; Tulsa Community College; Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation; and the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry.

For more information, please contact Donna Dollins, HIS secretary/treasurer, at 405-744-6460, or email her at donna.dollins@okstate.edu.